I witness.

The Greek word for witness is martyr. Its meaning refers to someone who has seen and testifies to the truth of what they experienced. That experience could be witnessing a traffic accident, hearing a speech, or catching sight of a violent crime.

We are all witnesses. How did the word martyr go from meaning witness to describing someone who died for the Christian faith? It had to do with their witness of the Risen Jesus. They witnessed the living Jesus, who had died, and was now fully alive again. They had a faith that rested soundly on the truth that God keeps his promises: that because Jesus now lives, all who trust in him will also be resurrected from their tombs at the end of time.

This faith in the risen Jesus exploded among the then tiny group of believers, and their witness of the risen Savior is the reason we are here today as the Christian church.

Jesus remained on planet Earth for 40 days after his resurrection. Why? He had some convincing to do. He had a list of people who needed to know that he was absolutely worthy of the title, “Risen Lord.” We need that same convincing witness.

Mary Magdalene is our first witness; we began talking about her story on Easter Sunday (Resurrection Day) and will talk about her story this coming Sunday also as we begin a new series called I Witness. Mary had been deeply hurt by the troubles of a broken world. Jesus had introduced himself to her tormented and broken life so that he could make her “unbroken” by his love, will, and power.

But there are more characters who need convincing that Jesus is alive. Peter was hoping Jesus was alive but also displayed a reticence towards his appearing. We see this at the Sea of Galilee as Jesus confronts Peter’s denial. At first it appears that Jesus is triple-shaming him: Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” three times. We might even cringe knowing that there are plenty of times when we have denied Jesus as our Savior and been reluctant to let our friends know we are Jesus-followers. We may have had instances where our actions denied Jesus as our Master; we chose to live in ways that we knew were contrary to his will. It may even be that our life is more about us than it is about living for Jesus and living for others—and in this way we deny our purpose for living.

Or let’s look at the adjustment that was needed for the man we call the apostle Paul. Paul was actually first called Saul. Saul (Acts 8) was a persecutor of Christians. He had an anger and a hatred of Christianity that riled him up to violent expression, being willing to take men, women, and children into hideous custody. Jesus showed up to Saul, announcing that he had it all wrong and was actually fighting for the wrong side. And Saul (who became Paul) now had a witness.

Where does this leave us? These next weeks will be an exploration of church history as told by the Gospels and the book of Acts (with a few other New Testament witnesses added in). As we journey through the testimony of each witness (martyr) we have an opportunity to learn why each of them became willing to die for Jesus. Their commitment was stronger than ever because they had met the Risen Jesus.

So let’s journey together and let us place solid hands into Jesus’ side, check the nail marks and see where the spear lanced him. He is the Risen and conquering King—our Savior Jesus. May we each gain insight into the human heart and its capability of deception, like Saul, who became Paul, Mary who was convinced Jesus was stolen, and Peter who was ashamed of betraying Jesus. May we witness, through the living Words of God, the risen Jesus and take comfort in the fact that death no longer reigns. We are set free from its tyranny; that disease can only bruise us. We have been set free by Jesus’ dominion, that all demonic powers and evil forces of tyranny will be overcome by the risen, living Jesus.

Let us praise our Risen Savior, Jesus!